International success | Galeria Toni Tàpies

1981
In Saint-Paul-de-Vence he creates his first ceramic sculptures, assisted by the German ceramist Hans Spinner. In Madrid, King Juan Carlos I awards him the Medalla de Oro de Bellas Artes, and in London he is invested doctor honoris causa by the Royal College of Art. Makes the first sketches for a monumental sculpture dedicated to Picasso, commissioned by Barcelona City Council. Further collaborations in the field of the collector’s book: Anular, with José-Miguel Ullán, Tàpies, répliquer, with Jean Daive, and La pierre trouant le sens mais, plus tard, le ciel au fond de l’entaille, with Yves Bonnefoy. Attends the opening of his retrospective exhibition at the Fondation Château de Jau (Cases-de-Pène, France). Another trip to New York for his exhibition at the M. Knoedler Gallery. In Barcelona, the Galeria Maeght brings together over a hundred paintings and drawings from 1980. Solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Lindau, Sankt Gall, San Francisco, Madrid, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Osaka and Zurich. Takes part in the exhibition Paris-Paris, 1937-1957. Création en France (Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris).

1982
Publication of La realitat com a art, a third collection of articles and statements by the artist. The dichotomy between “real culture” and “official culture” and a questioning of the cultural policies promoted by the political establishment are recurrent themes in his texts during the course of the year. He attends the opening of his retrospective exhibition in Venice (Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista) as part of the XL Biennale di Venezia. Jointly with Marc Chagall he is awarded the Wolf Foundation prize in Jerusalem. Designs the sets for Jacques Dupin’s play L’Éboulement. Collaborates with Pere Gimferrer on the collector’s book Aparicions. Produces three etchings for El péndulo inmóvil, by José Angel Valente. Solo exhibitions in Rome, Zaragoza, Stuttgart, Paris, Los Angeles, Barcelona, New York, Salzburg and Munich.

1983
Unveiling in Barcelona of the artist’s monumental sculpture in homage to Picasso. Designs the paving of the Plaça de Catalunya in Sant Boi de Llobregat (Barcelona), assisted by J. Gardy Artigas. Awarded the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Appointed Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Produces posters for the World Committee of Artists against Apartheid as a contribution to the struggle against racial discrimination around the world, for the Comitè Català d’Acció per la Pau i el Desarmament and to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Salvador Allende. Attends the opening of his exhibition at the Abbaye de Sénanque (Gordes, France). The Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona presents an anthological exhibition of his posters, books and record covers. Solo exhibitions in Hannover, Zurich, Paris and Barcelona.

1984
He attends the opening of his exhibition of ceramic sculptures produced between 1981 and 1983 in Zurich (Galerie Maeght Lelong). Travels to San Sebastián for his anthological exhibition at the Museo Municipal de San Telmo. The United Nations Association in Spain awards him the Peace Prize and the Rembrandt Prize from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Stiftung in Basle. Publication of the collector’s book L’estació, with a text by J.V. Foix and engravings by Tàpies. Collaborates with Edmond Jabès on the book Dans la double dépendance du dit. Victòria Combalia publishes the monograph Tàpies. The Fundació Antoni Tàpies is constituted in Barcelona, at the artist’s own initiative. Solo exhibitions in West Berlin, Paris, Cologne, Madrid, Stockholm, Seoul, Tokyo, New York and Frankfurt.

1985
Publishes Per un art modern i progressista, a fourth collection of writings and statements. Travels to Milan on the occasion of his retrospective exhibition organised by the City Council at the Palazzo Reale and simultaneously four Milan galleries exhibit the artist’s recent works. In Brussels he attends the opening of a new anthological exhibition of his work (Musée d’art moderne), as part of Europalia 85. The French government awards him the Prix National de Peinture, and he is appointed member of Stockholm’s Kungliga Akadamien för de Fria Konsterna. He is also awarded the Internationale Triennale für farbige Originalgrafik Prize in Grenchen, Switzerland. Publication of Llull-Tàpies (project begun in 1973), with engravings by the artist, Pere Gimferrer’s selection of texts by Ramon Llull and an epilogue by Miquel Batllori. Solo exhibitions in Barcelona, San Francisco, Madrid, Milan, Düsseldorf, Helsinki, Knokke-le-Zoute, Alcoi, Albacete and Paris.

1986
Attends the opening of his anthological exhibition at the Wiener Künstlerhaus in Vienna, which subsequently travels to Eindhoven (Stedelijk van Abbemuseum). Exhibits new sculptures and ceramic mural reliefs at the Abbaye de Montmajour (Arles). In New York for the opening of his latest exhibition at the Galerie Maeght Lelong. A member, together with Francisco Bustelo, Dolores Ibárruri and María Zambrano, among others, of the honorary committee of the association organising the tribute to the Swiss International Brigades in Geneva. Actively involved in the Coordinadora per la Salvaguarda del Montseny (Co-ordinating Committee for the Safeguard of Montseny). Takes part in the inaugural exhibition of the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, together with Baselitz, Chillida, Saura, Serra and Twombly. Solo exhibitions in Madrid, Paris, Arles and Barcelona.

1987
Actively involved in a campaign organised by the Federació Sindical d’Artistes Plàstics de Catalunya in defence of artists’ rights to decide where their works were exhibited. Supports the Homo faber-Homo ludens programme organised by the Goethe Institut in Osaka. Publication of Équation, a collector’s book in conjunction with Jean Frémon. Produces the preliminary sketches for the monumental sculpture Núvol i cadira, which in 1990 crowns the Fundació Antoni Tàpies building. Barbara Catoir publishes Gespräche mit Antoni Tàpies. He takes part in the exhibitions Le Siècle de Picasso and Fifty Years of Collecting: An Anniversary Selection. Paintings Since World War II, in the Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), respectively. Solo exhibitions in New York, Madrid, Zurich, Valencia, Cologne and Hannover.

1988
Invested doctor honoris causa by the Universitat de Barcelona; his investiture speech is about many of the themes on which he will write in future: the social function of art as a medium of understanding and transforming consciousness and behaviour, the significance of certain spiritual and contemplative experiences and the adaptation of these to current needs, and the importance of art in the struggle against commercialism and the trivialization of our experience. Publication of Carrer de Wagner, with engravings by Tàpies and poems by Brossa. The French government confers on him the title of Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. New anthological exhibitions in Barcelona (Saló del Tinell) and Marseille (Musée Cantini). A retrospective exhibition of his graphic work, organised by the Portland School of Art in Maine, begins a tour around various cities in the USA. Anna Agustí publishes Tàpies. Obra completa 1943-1960, first volume of the catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work. Takes part in the exhibition Aspects of Collage, Assemblage and the Found Object in Twentieth-Century Art (the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York). Solo exhibitions in Paris, Basle, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome, London and Sankt Gall

1989
He is appointed honorary member of the Catalan Centre of the PEN Club. Retrospective exhibition of his graphic work in Beijing (Fine Arts Hall). Produces three etchings for the collector’s book El árbol de la vida. La sierpe, with texts by María Zambrano. Travels to Düsseldorf for his anthological exhibition at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, and presents his most recent sculptures and work on cardboard at the Galerie Lelong in Zurich. He designs a set for Johnny va agafar el seu fusell, a stage adaptation of the novel Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. Takes part in the inaugural exhibition of the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) in Valencia. Solo exhibitions in New York, Buenos Aires, Oporto and Düsseldorf.

1990
Unveiling of the monumental sculpture Núvol i cadira on the roof of the former Montaner i Simon publishing house, the new premises of the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, which opens to the public soon after. Inauguration of the Sala Antoni Tàpies at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya, in Barcelona, for which he painted the mural Les quatre cròniques. Awarded the Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Artes. Travels to Tokyo, where he receives the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Artists’ Association. Invested doctor honoris causa by the University of Glasgow (together with Vaclav Havel, Umberto Eco and James Stirling) and of the Balearic Islands. Collaborates with Pere Gimferrer on the book La llum, for which he produces eight etchings. In Madrid, he attends the opening of his retrospective exhibition at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, subsequently shown at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona. Together with other artists, he contributes to the Amnesty International book Por un mundo sin ejecuciones. He is appointed honorary member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. Gregory Rood produces the TV documentary Antoni Tàpies for the BBC. Solo exhibitions in New York, Milan, Brussels, Marseille, Barcelona, Oviedo, Madrid, Paris and Chicago.

1991
Travels to Prague for the opening of his exhibition at the Micovna Pavilion, in the Royal Gardens of Prague castle. Opening of the exhibition Tàpies und die Bücher (Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt). The travelling exhibition Tàpies. Celebració de la mel, produced and organised by Fundació Antoni Tàpies, opens in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno). Produces the commemorative poster for the celebration of the quatercentenary of the death of Saint John of the Cross. He goes to Paris, where Galerie Lelong is showing a large group of ceramics done by him between 1981 and 1991. Publication of Matière du souffle, a collector’s book done in association with Jacques Dupin. The Fundación Cultural Casa de la Moneda in Madrid awards him the Tomás Francisco Prieto Prize. Solo exhibitions in Barcelona, Cologne, Zurich, Oporto, London, San Sebastián, Burgos, Tokyo, Mexico City, Long Beach and New York.

1992
Presentation in the Fundació Antoni Tàpies of the exhibition Tàpies. Comunicació sobre el mur, which subsequently travels to the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) in Valencia and the Serpentine Gallery in London. He travels to Seville for the opening of Tàpies. Celebració de la mel (Pabellón Mudéjar), which is then presented in Sankt Gall (Kunstmuseum) and Bilbao (Sala Rekalde). In New York for the opening of his retrospective exhibition of graphic work at the Museum of Modern Art. Appointed member of honour of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge (USA). In Céret is a presentation of the mural that he has produced by assignment of the museum of modern art in the town. Barcelona City Council confers on him the Gold Medal of the city. Takes part in the exhibition Repetición/Transformación (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid). Solo exhibitions in Lisbon, Zurich, Barcelona, London, Valencia, Girona, Buenos Aires, Vienna, Madrid and Zaragoza.